VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II has confirmed the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as the new dean of the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal Ratzinger, 75, and the five other top-ranking cardinals in the Roman Curia met Nov. 27 to elect a successor to Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, 80, who asked to be relieved of the position so he could retire to his home country, Benin.

The assent of Pope John Paul was announced Nov. 30 at the Vatican.

Canon law stipulates that the dean of the College of Cardinals reside at the Vatican; he is considered first among equals within the college and performs mainly ceremonial tasks.

The election is carried out by the six "cardinal-bishops" who head or have retired as heads of Vatican congregations and councils. In addition to the normal titular church assigned to cardinals as a sign of their belonging to the Diocese of Rome, the cardinal-bishops also are given an honorary title to one of the six dioceses on the outskirts of Rome.

In addition to Cardinals Ratzinger and Gantin, the others participating in the vote were Cardinals Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state; Roger Etchegaray, retired president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the council for the family; and Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Congregation for Bishops.

Cardinal Sodano, 75, was elected vice dean, the position held by Cardinal Ratzinger until the November election.

The role of the dean of the College of Cardinals takes on particular importance with the death of the pope.

The dean is charged with informing the world's cardinals, heads of state and ambassadors to the Vatican of the pope's death. He calls the cardinals to Rome and presides over the funeral liturgy of the pope.

The dean is the first to enter the conclave to elect a new pope, and he reads the conclave oath to the others.

Once someone receives the votes necessary to be elected pontiff, it is the dean in the name of the college who asks the newly elected if he will accept the position and by what name he will choose to be known.